I always feel a little off balance this time of year. Thanksgiving weekend is over but I am not ready to jump into Christmas. I prefer to wait until 1 December to go all holiday.

It is hard for me to let go of autumn, it is my favorite season. I love the angle of the light and the smells and the leaves.

Beautiful blue sky!

Christmas is a lot of work, a marathon of busyness. I am already looking at what I can cut from the to-do list, scaling back the baking list and thinking about where I can trim back on the decorating. I look at the calendar and make sure I schedule downtime, movie time, early bedtime.

For this week I am deep breathing and sitting and contemplating. I am focusing on how I want to feel over the next month, not what I want/need to accomplish. I remind myself that I need to enjoy the process. There is no sense in baking/wrapping/decorating if I am hating doing it. I need to keep things manageable.

I need to take care of myself. You need to take care of yourself too. Take some time this week to remember what is important to you. And keep that in your thoughts as you shop, cook, wrap and decorate.